My sister was the one who told me to write about this last one. She reminded me that even if you have just-picked, French Laundry-worthy vegetables in the salad bowl, they can be completely annihilated by a splash of the wrong bottled vinaigrette. I don’t mean to suggest that you shouldn’t buy salad dressing — there are some good ones out there* and if the dinner-crunch makes you choose between homemade and meltdown vs. bottle and angelic…well, obviously, go with the bottle. All I’m saying is that if on Sunday, you plan ahead and make a bottle of good, all-purpose vinaigrette, which will be a guaranteed bright spot on the plate even if your veggies are only Green Giant-worthy, you will be as happy as a 6-year-old playing tennis in a bathing suit when that jar is waiting for you on Wednesday.

*I like Trader Joe’s red wine vinaigrette and Jo’s[1] ginger dressing is a major VIP on the carrot dipping circuit in our house.